


Crescent Moon

by MessintoMessages



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Angst, Eventual Happy Ending, Friends to Lovers, Getting Together, Internalized Homophobia, M/M, doesnt mean hes not smart, he plays sports, jock jeno, jockISH more like but whatever, just because hes only finished one book, nerd renjun, no ones allowed to bully renjun
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-07
Updated: 2019-02-07
Packaged: 2019-10-24 02:43:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,333
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17696111
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MessintoMessages/pseuds/MessintoMessages
Summary: Renjun and Jeno seemingly have nothing in common, nor do they want anything to do with each other. But, maybe both of those things are lies they have been telling themselves.When they’ve been seemingly forced together by some cruel fate, their past comes back to haunt them.





	Crescent Moon

**Author's Note:**

> I’ve been wanting to write a cute high school fic but this happened, idk.

Renjun and Jeno would be what you would call complete opposites.

Renjun was quiet, serious, and calculating. He mostly kept to himself outside his friend group, as he could be quite moody around strangers. Nerdy, bookish, could very well be the class valedictorian. Huang Renjun.

Jeno, on the other hand, was loud, ostentation, and over the top. He called just about everyone his friend and constantly had a smile on his face. Grades slipping, MVP, could very well land a sports scholarship. Lee Jeno.

Sitting on different ends of the social spectrum led them to not cross paths under any circumstance.

Although it hadn’t always been like that.

***

"Ya Renjun!"

Renjun did a 360 when he heard the familiar voice. He quickly scanned the cafeteria before finding the person who was yelling his name.

"Thanks for spotting me, but you really didn’t have to yell," Renjun rolled his eyes as he sat his tray down at the table.

"Dude you literally pretend not to see us every day, I had to guilt you into sitting with us somehow," Chenle, a boy with strikingly green hair, or cabbage head as Renjun liked to call him, responded.

"I know you secretly love us, you just don’t want to admit it," Haechan cooed as Renjun finally sat down.

He could never survive a day without those two picking on him. Especially Haechan who found a hobby in smothering them just because he loved it when they all got angry. But it sure was funny when Haechan’s antics were aimed at someone else, that Renjun could admit.

And that’s exactly where he found himself, practically choking on his ham and cheese sandwich over something ridiculous Haechan shot at Jisung when Lee Jeno tapped him on the shoulder.

Everyone sitting at that table knew of Renjun and Jeno’s complicated past, so to say that they were surprised he was standing at their lunch table was an understatement.

"Hey Renjun, do you still, uh… do math tutoring?" Jeno’s hand rubbed anxiously at the back of his neck waiting for Renjun’s answer.

Renjun was taken aback on many accounts but be managed to squeak out a "yeah" in which he instantly regretted because it was quite obvious what Jeno was getting at.

"Well, I kinda need to get my grade up so I was wondering if you might be able to help me out…"

Jeno seemed very nonchalant about the whole situation, which only made Renjun even more confused.

He looked back toward his friends hoping they would lend him some guidance. Instead, they all had the same owlish look plastered on their faces.

Jeno just stood there as Renjun’s eyes flickered from him back to his friends.

***

The last time Jeno had sat in Renjun’s bedroom had been almost 4 years ago.

A few posters had been taken down, and there was a new desk, but otherwise, the room was exactly the same.

They sat on the floor under a small table in the center of the room. To say the scene was awkward was an understatement. Neither knew exactly what to say or how to act.

"Uh… Did you bring your last test? We can start by going over the ones you missed." Renjun fiddled with the pen in his hand unable to sit still.

Jeno pulled out the test covered in red ink, and Renjun quickly realized he might have to spend more than one tutoring session with Jeno.

Soon enough the evening turned into night, and while the tension that hung in the air had dissipated things weren’t exactly comfortable between the two.

They made plans to meet up every day for the next two weeks to make sure Jeno would be ready for the upcoming midterm. Renjun didn’t particularly enjoy the idea of spending that much time with Jeno, but if he wanted to get a good enough grade to pull his average up than it was necessary.

"Thanks, Renjun, for doing this… I mean I know I’m paying you and everything… but I really need to fix this grade if I want to keep playing sports. So, thanks really."

Renjun knew he was thanking him because it was _Jeno_ that he had to be tutoring. They both knew that it wasn’t the best situation for either of them.

"No, it’s really okay." Renjun tried his best to force a genuine smile, "Please don’t worry about it."

***

Renjun and Jeno used to spend practically every day together, so to say it was bizarre that they had seen each other for the last 4 days in a row after practically avoiding each other for years, was an understatement.

It almost felt like they could have possibly turned back time. But they couldn’t. Almost four years of being strangers built a wall between the two.

But every day they spent together a small part of the wall would fall.

"So, have you guys like, _talked_ about it at all?" Jaemin had pulled Renjun aside a few days later when they were all hanging out at Jisung’s one night after he had finished tutoring Jeno.

Renjun squinted, almost as if to wince at his question.

"I mean… you’ve seen him every day for like a week, that’s definitely a record. Isn’t it awkward? You haven’t even spoken to him since, what… middle school? Let alone actually spent time with him."

Renjun knew Jaemin was just concerned. All his friends knew the story. Renjun wasn’t shy around his friends. They knew pretty much everything. Especially Jaemin.

"No Jaemin, we haven’t talked." Frustrated, Renjun ran his hands through his hair and sighed, "Look what am I supposed to say, 'I’ve been in love with you since we’ve been five, and I’m still kinda pissed that you abandoned me in high school to hang with the cool kids.'"

"Well, I don’t know. But I mean… he could be trying to reach out?"

Renjun shot him an irritated look. "Don’t put those assumptions of yours in my head. He just needs to fix his grade."

"I don’t know Renjun," Jaemin shrugged. "All I’m saying is, isn’t it weirder _not_ to talk about it."

***

Jaemin’s words found a home in Renjun’s head, unfortunately. Which only lead him to be even more uncomfortable around Jeno than he had already been.

He really had tried hard to not think about the version of Jeno he used to know. The Jeno that had been his best friend.

Jeno had made it very clear that he had wanted nothing to do with him once they entered high school. His last words to him being, "I just don’t think we should hang out too much at school anymore… we’re just kind of different now."

Words that Renjun vowed to never forget. Apparently, Jeno didn’t want to be seen hanging out with a _nerd._ Which honestly was the most ridiculous thing Renjun had ever heard. Jeno had always been smarter than him, he always got better grades and even helped him study. But it apparently wasn’t cool to care about school. Renjun was left behind.

So, it was quite rich that Jeno had been coming over to Renjun’s house the past week for _Renjun_ to tutor _him._ But as much as he wanted to enjoy the irony of this situation, he couldn’t.

Ever since they were young, Renjun looked up to Jeno. That admiration quickly turned into something more. So even though Jeno had been nothing short of an ass the past 4 years, Renjun truthfully wanted to forgive him.

But he couldn’t do that either. He had way too much respect for himself than to let that happen without Jeno asking for forgiveness first. He had been the one to mess up their relationship, so if Jeno wanted to fix it, he would have to be the one to make the first step.

And Renjun never expected him to do that.

***

"Is everything okay? You’re kind of out of it today."

Only 5 more days. Then they could go back to pretending the other didn’t exist. Only 7 more months and they would both be off to college and never have to see each other again.

"Huh?" Renjun was ripped from his thoughts when Jeno spoke up.

"You good dude?" The look on Jeno’s face said that no excuse Renjun could give him he would believe.

"Oh, yeah sorry." Renjun brushed his hair out of his eyes and adjusted his glasses to try to refocus on the problem they had been working on.

There was no point in trying to explain, Renjun knew he would only dig his grave deeper, so he just kept his mouth shut.

He made a mental note to beat Jaemin’s ass next time he saw him because he didn’t like the thoughts that were finding a place in his mind. The ones he thought he had locked away. That is until Jaemin had to go and open Pandora's box.

He clearly couldn’t focus. Not when he just happened to all of a sudden notice how handsome Jeno had gotten. He had always been cute, but he had finally grown into his ears and lost his chubby checks. It’s not like he hadn’t seen him around school, or for the past week for that matter, he just hadn’t been _looking._ He was the kind of handsome that you could hardly believe was real, utterly breathtaking. Yet he didn’t act like he realized. He was awkward and soft-spoken sitting there on Renjun’s bedroom floor. He was doing math, but even then, his eyes turned up into a smile, shaped like two crescent moon’s, even if his lips didn’t match. Everything he did was endearing and could only remind Renjun of the times they would stay up all night in a blanket fort they had made, playing video games until the break of dawn. Or when they would chase after the ice cream man who seemed to pretend not to see them running after him until the very last minute. Jeno was the type of kid who never got mad. He would giggle when he lost to Renjun at Mario cart, or suggest walking to the convenience store down the road the days the ice cream man didn’t feel like stopping. Always there to calm down a temperamental young Renjun, the littlest thing setting him off.

When he looked at Jeno sitting in front of him, softly laughing over another mistake he made on his math homework, those memories were all he could see. He, for a moment, forgot about the loud and over the top version of Jeno that he was at school, the social butterfly who was friends with everyone but him. All he saw was the shy and brilliant boy that he once knew.

"I know you know how to do this Jeno."

Jeno’s eyes snapped up to meet Renjun’s, laugh cut off by the accusing words that had left Renjun’s mouth.

Renjun knew he was waiting for an explanation that would never come, but he still asked.

"Why are you here? Why are you sitting in my room like nothing has happened?"

His voice was empty. It wasn’t laced with anger or hurt, there was no emotion attached. Hollow.

Instead, a thousand emotions were running across Jeno’s face.

"I-" Jeno looked away from Renjun, down at the books in front of him as he scanned over the scene as if to look for an excuse amidst the scattered papers.

After an excruciatingly long period of silence, Jeno scooped up all his things from the desk and walked out. Once again leaving Renjun with no explanation.

At least this time he wasn’t surprised.

***

Jeno didn’t show up for the rest of their tutoring sessions.

Renjun’s friends were clearly worried, but in all honesty, it didn’t bother him all that much. He had given up a long time ago on the idea that they would ever be close again. And while he did end up entertaining that idea slightly in the past few weeks, he wasn’t actually expecting anything.

That was until he heard a knock on his door a week after he had last seen Jeno.

He was standing there practically hiding behind a piece of paper Renjun had quickly figured out was his math test. This time there wasn’t a single red mark to be seen.

Renjun honestly didn’t know what to say or how to react. While he wasn’t all that hurt, it didn’t mean he wasn’t irritated.

Renjun just decided to angerly squint at him. Still getting no reaction from the boy other than big blinking eyes peering up from behind the paper he was still holding, Renjun sighed.

"And? I know you could have gotten that grade on your own."

Jeno finally caved, "Then why did you agree to tutor me?"

"I don’t know Jeno, maybe I thought you got dumb from all those years playing contact sports. Or hanging out with dimwits," he mumbled the last bit, but it was still loud enough for the other to hear.

It was Jeno’s turn to sigh, "I came here because I want to talk. I want to actually have a conversation with you about… about everything. I want- I want to officially apologize to you," he was practically whispering.

Part of Renjun wanted to slam the door right in his face. But he was an idiot, so he let Jeno in.

As soon as they sat down, once again finding themselves in Renjun’s room, Jeno looked like he was about to cry.

"Okay… start from the beginning. I’m all ears," Renjun said, anger already fading.

Jeno took a deep breath and began.

"I’ve missed you so much Injun. Since the very day that I told you those awful things about how I didn’t want us to be seen together. And I know I have no right to miss you, or even be sitting here asking for you to forgive me this late. I should have done this as soon as I regretted saying those words to you. But I didn’t because I am a coward. Instead, I pushed you away even further," he paused, clearly nervous to continue. "The reason I asked you to tutor me, the reason why I failed that test on purpose, was because I was scared of losing you forever. I was scared that if I didn’t do anything soon you would go off to college always hating me. And while I’ll understand if after this you still don’t want anything to do with me, I just feel like you deserve an explanation at the very least. So here it is:" Jeno took another breath to ground himself, "I love you Huang Renjun, I have for years and years. I don’t remember when it began, but something ugly grew inside me alongside the feelings I had for you. Something in my head told me it was wrong to feel this way about you, about my best friend, my best friend who was a boy. It got so bad I felt like I was suffocating. I didn’t know how to act around you, scared that I would make my feelings obvious the world. I genuinely felt like I was doing something wrong. So, I created distance the best way I knew how. I hurt you." Tears were streaming down Jeno’s face at this point. "I know all the excuses in the world won’t make up for how I’ve treated you the past four years, but I just want to say I am so sorry for doing that to you."

Renjun felt like someone had just punched him in the chest. He didn’t know how to rationally respond, so instead, he just let himself cry.

"I don’t hate you Nono. I’ve never hated you, not for a second. How could I hate you?" Renjun said through hiccups and tear-stained cheeks. "It wasn’t fucking okay for you do that to me, regardless of the situation. But I am really sorry you had to go through that, I wish things had turned out differently." Renjun wiped away the remaining tears in his eyes and finally clearly looked at the boy in front of him. "I’ve always loved you too, you idiot," he let out a light laugh, amidst the situation.

Jeno looked clearly spent after his confession, so it was obvious he couldn’t really process what Renjun had said to him. Instead, he just stared at the younger, teary eyes wide.

At this Renjun let out a real laugh, although emotion still laced his voice.

"Do you want to start over?"

***

It was clear to both of them that _start over_ did not mean _go back to the way things were_. They had things to work on and work up to. Trust had to be regained.

It took a while for them to be friends again. The remaining time in their last year of high school was spent trying to find a place where they fit in each other’s lives.

But luck at been on their side this time around.

It had been a little over a year since they had finally been honest with each other. Promising that day to only be honest with each other from then on out.

"Hey Renjun, can I ask you something?"

Jeno was walking Renjun back to his dorm from his lecture as the class ended well into the evening. It was already late fall, so it got dark quite early and he all but demanded that he made sure Renjun got home okay on the days he had that class.

"Yeah of course." Renjun smiled up at Jeno and linked their arms. Whenever Jeno needed to talk about something serious he would always start the conversation off like this. They had been doing a lot of talking recently, so Renjun was no longer afraid of this question.

"Are you happy?" Jeno looked over at him clearly concerned.

Renjun hummed, taking a moment to consider the question. "For the most part." He looked back up a Jeno, the smile still steady on his face. "How about you Nono? Are you happy?"

"No."

Renjun had a feeling he knew where this was going so his smile didn’t falter much at the response

Instead, he unhooked their arms and wrapped them around Jeno’s waist in a sort of side hug, clutching on to him as they walked. "Why is that?"

Jeno stopped walking, turning in Renjun’s hold. Pulling his hands off him to instead hold, he sighed. "You know why."

Renjun chuckled, "Oh, do I? Last time I checked I wasn’t a mind reader." At this point, Renjun was just playing coy.

Jeno practically huffed, "I love you. That’s why."

Renjun knew this was coming. He had felt something shift in their relationship recently. They wanted to first work on repairing their friendship before anything else, so Renjun hadn’t heard those words from Jeno’s mouth since the very first time he said them. But it felt like he was saying them for the very first time.

"I know," Renjun responded breathlessly.

Jeno pulled Renjun in closer again, hands coming up to cup the smaller’s face.

"I love you Huang Renjun, and I can’t bear another day without you by my side."

"But I _am_ always by your side." Renjun knew he could only play dumb for so long as the whisper of his voice and his reddening cheeks were already giving him away.

Instead of continuing to play Renjun’s little games, he brought their faces inches apart before pausing and looking directly into Renjun’s eyes.

"Can I kiss you?"

"I love you too Jeno."

Standing under the dim light of the crescent moon, Renjun reached up and finally connected their lips.

 

 

Renjun and Jeno would be what you would call complete opposites.

Sitting on different ends of the social spectrum led them to not cross paths under any circumstance.

Although it hadn’t always been like that.

And now, it would never be like that again.

**Author's Note:**

> I was actually not planning on adding the last section but since I left my last one shot with an open ending I thought I wouldn’t torture you guys this time around ( ˘ ³˘)♥ 
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